Personally, I wouldn't want to emulate his business model (although I wouldn't mind emulating his sales
) I just feel that writing a book isn't about trying to sell to a particular market, I believe you write a book because you have a story inside of you that you just have to tell. I mean that's why I write. I just don't see how the whole assembly line approach to writing could be a positive thing in my opinion (after all, this entire thread is basically an opinion piece).
One of the things that makes a powerful book powerful is that the voice of the author is heard in every word and every line. It talks with you, cries with you, laughs with you, screams at you; the voice of the author is what keeps readers reading. I wouldn't want to risk losing that by CONSISTENTLY employing a bunch of other people to help me write.
Also, I think movies are a completely different animal from books, so you have to have a large staff. Sitting alone in your room writing prose is much simpler than making a movie, which requires actors, directors, different locations, filming, editing, marketing, and distributing. In other words, there are a heck of a lot more moving parts with movies, so you need waaaaay more people to do one right.
One thousand percent agree with you on everything you wrote (Yeah, there is little parity between film and books - but just throwing out the the thought as Patterson as a controller). I think you described a well-written book perfectly, but I suppose that is the difference between the the different types of books people want to read, (sometimes it's high literature - sometimes a bit of fluff!)
I didn't really make myself as clear as I could (sorry!) when I wrote about his way of working being and being a type of role model for small independant writers - I meant the bit about him being involved in the marketing etc, rather than the employing teams of writers! (I would never presume that was what people aspire to!)
I, for one, would love to know more about things like that, and in my opinion, I think that is the
real success of the man. Every independant author I have come in contact with (personally) have told me they work harder on the book after it's been released. Now, I suppose he has a team of people to do this for him too(!!), but that seemed to be his meat and potatoes when he first started(?). But I guess strategy is just as important, and he still seems to get that just right.
The only thing that annoys me is how big his name is on the cover. Maybe, as a gesture of good will, he should just have it:
James Patterson right at the bottom of the jacket.
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